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I'm concerned about my US bonds, as the way to access them is through a government website. Are these people going to block my access and steal my money? >> “W

I'm concerned about my US bonds, as the way to access them is through a government website. Are these people going to block my access and steal my money? >> “We really have very little eyes on what's going on. Congress has no ability to really intervene and monitor what's happening because these aren't really accountable public officials. So this feels like a hostile takeover of the machinery of governments by the richest man in the world.”

justin66 2y ago
They are going to make it easier to get your money by making it available via X!
chasely 2y ago
I'm trying to download my 1099 forms from TreasuryDirect and it's coming back as unavailable. Probably unrelated to everything going on now, but the fact I thought that it could be related for a second is crazy. >>> TreasuryDirect is unavailable. >>> We apologize for the inconvenience and ask that you try again later.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
sanderjd 2y ago
Investors' faith in US bond and equity markets is, unironically, the most powerful immediate-term check on the current administration. The longer-term check is the midterm elections in 2026. If they really screw things up, as they appear to be doing, that's their deadline for fixing them.
- bloopernova 2y ago
  The republicans purged a lot of people from voter rolls. They're going to do the same in 2026. If you want to vote, anticipate dozens of hours over several months making sure you weren't removed from the register. Why are they so against people voting? The number of actual fraudulent vote cases prosecuted was very, very small, but the measures taken against voter fraud have been disproportionate.
  - sanderjd 2y ago
    They benefit from more people voting, not fewer. The valance of that issue flipped over the last few cycles.
    - kccoder 2y ago
      Then why did they purge a lot of voters in 2024? And take other actions to suppress voter turnout?
      - mostertoaster 2y ago
        Does blocking non citizens from voting count as “suppressing voter turnout”? It’s all just politics and words, and we’ve picked our side and so we use the language that best supports it. Is someone pro-life, or are they anti women’s rights? Is someone pro-choice, or are they pro-baby-murder. How does one actually convince someone of the “rightness” of their side? It somehow starts with love your enemies, though if I say that to my more right wing friends it means capitulate to whatever the progressives want. All I know is the spirit of the age is evil.
        qqqwerty 2y ago
        That is not what they did: https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/ https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/ Passing laws to make it harder to vote, and easier to challenge a persons voter registration and ballot, and then running an operative campaign to specifically target voters on the other side of the political spectrum is a bit different than "just politics". Legal, sure. Ethical, moral, fair, absolutely not.
        mostertoaster 2y ago
        Eh, it’s all politics. I’m sure they are trying to win however they can, don’t sit there and be so naive to think the other side wouldn’t be perfectly happy to let illegal immigrants vote if it benefited them. I’m all for fairness. For example I think we should weight votes, where everyone gets one vote for each dollar of taxes they pay. I also want to see all landlords structure rental contracts so that the renter pays the property taxes, if rent was 2k a month but there are $500 in property taxes a month, rent would become $1500 plus $500 property taxes. That way the immediate effects of voting for tax increases is felt acutely and their blame can go on themselves instead of their “greedy landlord”.
- bagels 2y ago
  [flagged]
- mostertoaster 2y ago
  It’s all in the eye of the beholder. It appears to me that Trump is doing phenomenal, and my I didn’t like the other side vote for him, is turning into I kind of like him and would more actively support him. He seems like a strong president, especially compared to his predecessor, and the promise to “make America great again”, seems like it might becoming more of a reality. If he can negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, in a relatively soonish timeframe, I will be very happy. But it’s kind of a game of chicken, a high risk high reward type gamble, that could be very dangerous and lead to worse things, so I’ll just have to wait and see. Ultimately I read comments here and I think the “other side” is blind, which they likely think of me.
  - aetch 2y ago
    This has to be a joke
    - Lerc 2y ago
      Because you found a person with opinions different to your own? I think most of what Trump is attempting will work out poorly, for America, Trump, and the world in general. I can't prove that and there are so many presumptions in my world view, my estimation might be incorrect. Trump was elected. I think a lot of that support came from people who had been voting for either Kang or Kodos for years and knew the outcome of that wasn't going to be what they wanted. I believe those people know exactly what kind of person Trump is, but that Trump acting in his own self interest might cause government action that is at least not-as-bad as the alternative of a perpetual status quo. I don't think that is the case, but I think it would be unreasonable to declare that someone who believes something different is wrong simply because I think my opinion objectively carries more weight.
      - RealityVoid 2y ago
        Disclaimer: not an US citizen. I appreciate your post, and I think there is some truth to what you're saying. The problem is that... It's hard bordering on impossible for me to process what these people see good in what he's doing. I've tried, mind you, I've really truly tried. But this whole thing sounds insane to me. There is no way for me to erase the bigger picture from my mind that I get to the point... "yeah, he's doing a good job." The second point is I feel a lot of these people are NOT arguing in good faith. If someone is not arguing in good faith, being "understanding" would just embolden them. Honestly, this whole thing makes my head explode.
- DanielHB 2y ago
  Imagine if the US misses bond payments and defaults because of bureaucracy problems (not lack of money). It would completely explode the interest rates of any loans they have and completely tank the US government for years.
adamsb6 2y ago
I don't think Treasury Direct could get much worse without just being completely broken. At least they don't force you to login with a virtual keyboard any longer.
hedora 2y ago
They'll steal it via inflation. Trump's already announced a few programs that involve him siphoning federal dollars into the pockets of his cronies (including the tariff revenue). Blocking your access to any sort of "sell my bond back" button while they do it seems prudent.
- fastball 2y ago
  The last two admins already "stole" it via inflation. Do you have any idea how many dollars were printed in the last 5 years? Cutting federal spending is obviously not the thing that will lead to more inflation (though tariffs certainly might, but that is not really the subject of the current discussion).
  - bongodongobob 2y ago
    And what caused that inflation? I seem to remember some sort of worldwide health issue.
    - fastball 2y ago
      The existence of a pandemic does not require printing an unprecendented amount of currency.
      - bongodongobob 2y ago
        It does when people can't work.
jaimex2 2y ago
Yeah man, theyre using them to buy weed as we speak. Sorry.

justin66 2y ago

They are going to make it easier to get your money by making it available via X!

chasely 2y ago

I'm trying to download my 1099 forms from TreasuryDirect and it's coming back as unavailable. Probably unrelated to everything going on now, but the fact I thought that it could be related for a second is crazy. >>> TreasuryDirect is unavailable. >>> We apologize for the inconvenience and ask that you try again later.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

sanderjd 2y ago

Investors' faith in US bond and equity markets is, unironically, the most powerful immediate-term check on the current administration. The longer-term check is the midterm elections in 2026. If they really screw things up, as they appear to be doing, that's their deadline for fixing them.

bloopernova 2y ago
The republicans purged a lot of people from voter rolls. They're going to do the same in 2026. If you want to vote, anticipate dozens of hours over several months making sure you weren't removed from the register. Why are they so against people voting? The number of actual fraudulent vote cases prosecuted was very, very small, but the measures taken against voter fraud have been disproportionate.
- sanderjd 2y ago
  They benefit from more people voting, not fewer. The valance of that issue flipped over the last few cycles.
  - kccoder 2y ago
    Then why did they purge a lot of voters in 2024? And take other actions to suppress voter turnout?
    - mostertoaster 2y ago
      Does blocking non citizens from voting count as “suppressing voter turnout”? It’s all just politics and words, and we’ve picked our side and so we use the language that best supports it. Is someone pro-life, or are they anti women’s rights? Is someone pro-choice, or are they pro-baby-murder. How does one actually convince someone of the “rightness” of their side? It somehow starts with love your enemies, though if I say that to my more right wing friends it means capitulate to whatever the progressives want. All I know is the spirit of the age is evil.
      - qqqwerty 2y ago
        That is not what they did: https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/ https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/ Passing laws to make it harder to vote, and easier to challenge a persons voter registration and ballot, and then running an operative campaign to specifically target voters on the other side of the political spectrum is a bit different than "just politics". Legal, sure. Ethical, moral, fair, absolutely not.
        mostertoaster 2y ago
        Eh, it’s all politics. I’m sure they are trying to win however they can, don’t sit there and be so naive to think the other side wouldn’t be perfectly happy to let illegal immigrants vote if it benefited them. I’m all for fairness. For example I think we should weight votes, where everyone gets one vote for each dollar of taxes they pay. I also want to see all landlords structure rental contracts so that the renter pays the property taxes, if rent was 2k a month but there are $500 in property taxes a month, rent would become $1500 plus $500 property taxes. That way the immediate effects of voting for tax increases is felt acutely and their blame can go on themselves instead of their “greedy landlord”.
bagels 2y ago
[flagged]
mostertoaster 2y ago
It’s all in the eye of the beholder. It appears to me that Trump is doing phenomenal, and my I didn’t like the other side vote for him, is turning into I kind of like him and would more actively support him. He seems like a strong president, especially compared to his predecessor, and the promise to “make America great again”, seems like it might becoming more of a reality. If he can negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, in a relatively soonish timeframe, I will be very happy. But it’s kind of a game of chicken, a high risk high reward type gamble, that could be very dangerous and lead to worse things, so I’ll just have to wait and see. Ultimately I read comments here and I think the “other side” is blind, which they likely think of me.
- aetch 2y ago
  This has to be a joke
  - Lerc 2y ago
    Because you found a person with opinions different to your own? I think most of what Trump is attempting will work out poorly, for America, Trump, and the world in general. I can't prove that and there are so many presumptions in my world view, my estimation might be incorrect. Trump was elected. I think a lot of that support came from people who had been voting for either Kang or Kodos for years and knew the outcome of that wasn't going to be what they wanted. I believe those people know exactly what kind of person Trump is, but that Trump acting in his own self interest might cause government action that is at least not-as-bad as the alternative of a perpetual status quo. I don't think that is the case, but I think it would be unreasonable to declare that someone who believes something different is wrong simply because I think my opinion objectively carries more weight.
    - RealityVoid 2y ago
      Disclaimer: not an US citizen. I appreciate your post, and I think there is some truth to what you're saying. The problem is that... It's hard bordering on impossible for me to process what these people see good in what he's doing. I've tried, mind you, I've really truly tried. But this whole thing sounds insane to me. There is no way for me to erase the bigger picture from my mind that I get to the point... "yeah, he's doing a good job." The second point is I feel a lot of these people are NOT arguing in good faith. If someone is not arguing in good faith, being "understanding" would just embolden them. Honestly, this whole thing makes my head explode.
DanielHB 2y ago
Imagine if the US misses bond payments and defaults because of bureaucracy problems (not lack of money). It would completely explode the interest rates of any loans they have and completely tank the US government for years.

adamsb6 2y ago

I don't think Treasury Direct could get much worse without just being completely broken. At least they don't force you to login with a virtual keyboard any longer.

hedora 2y ago

They'll steal it via inflation. Trump's already announced a few programs that involve him siphoning federal dollars into the pockets of his cronies (including the tariff revenue). Blocking your access to any sort of "sell my bond back" button while they do it seems prudent.

fastball 2y ago
The last two admins already "stole" it via inflation. Do you have any idea how many dollars were printed in the last 5 years? Cutting federal spending is obviously not the thing that will lead to more inflation (though tariffs certainly might, but that is not really the subject of the current discussion).
- bongodongobob 2y ago
  And what caused that inflation? I seem to remember some sort of worldwide health issue.
  - fastball 2y ago
    The existence of a pandemic does not require printing an unprecendented amount of currency.
    - bongodongobob 2y ago
      It does when people can't work.

jaimex2 2y ago

Yeah man, theyre using them to buy weed as we speak. Sorry.